Disneyland Paris

One of the reasons we elected to stay outside of the city instead of finding quarters more accessible to the museums and historical sites (and, let's face it, plain old tourist traps) was to have easy access to Disneyland Paris. Well, the main reason was so that we could stay at the awesome Marriott but Disney was definitely a consideration. Just think, I'd been to Florida dozens of times and never made it to Disney! I lived in California for three years and never visited the Happiest Place on Earth! For shame, Elaine, for shame. After we got married, Tony and I took a brief couple of days in Orlando before coming to Italy. We discussed Universal vs. Disney and I ultimately picked Universal Studios. Because Harry Potter, duh. 

Anyway, I had pretty high expectations of Euro Disney, but I was a little disappointed. It was somehow a little smaller than I expected, but that didn't stop us from having fun. There are two parks (Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park), and we lucked out with a sweet military discount that allowed us to get a two-day pass to both parks for basically what we'd otherwise pay for a one-day, one-park pass. (FYI, each military member can access this deal and sponsor on up to four other persons. We used Tony's ID in case I go back, or we want to take advantage of the military discount stateside before the end of this calendar year. A distinct possibility over the Christmas holidays.) We drove to the park on a Monday, and I was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed on our way in. We got a great parking spot (and promptly forgot where we parked), and I think I snapped about a hundred pictures of all the various "Welcome to Disneyland" signs. I admit I was surprised how crowded it was, though in retrospect I suppose I shouldn't have been. School was out for the summer, and I imagine many people taking a three-day weekend might just as easily elect to take a Monday off as a Friday. The crowds were not the worst I've seen though, and lines were bearable. We did choose to enter the single-rider line on more than one occasion though, which didn't bother us in the slightest. Five-minute wait instead of 45? And all I have to do is NOT sit next to my spouse for the two-minute ride? Okay, it's a deal. 

One complaint about both parks is that the layouts were a bit confusing and the signage was pretty darn minimal. It was hard to find the bathrooms, and there weren't a whole lot of food options. Many of the vendor carts were closed for the day. I was excited about the Ratatouille ride, but it was closed for maintenance when we went. We did eat at the Ratatouille restaurant though - Bistrot Chez Remy - and it was one area where Disney's legendary attention-to-detail paid off. We walked in and crossed a line an suddenly everything was rat-scaled. The tiny floor tiles grew enormous, we sat on chairs shaped like champagne bottle toppers, the tables had those paper tropical drink umbrellas over them (papier mache and human-sized, of course), and the ceiling was covered in enormous vines. Our tables were matchbook covers and the space dividers were giant plates, and we each got ratatouille and it was delicious. Tony had never seen the movie and it had been a while for me, so we later went and watched it. The restaurant was just like the restaurant in the movie!!! And if you're curious, Tony enjoyed the movie, too. 

Inside the Bistrot Chez Remy at Disneyland Paris, photo from their website

We did hit both parks in one day, and pretty much decided that was sufficient time to see everything and do what we wanted to do. However, we found ourselves at loose ends later in the week and went back to have dinner at Planet Hollywood and enter the park a couple hours before closing time. The service was abysmal and the food was mediocre, and that's all I'll say about Planet Hollywood. But I'm so happy we went back! We rode the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror (or whatever it's called) ride again, and my hair stood straight up again, and it was fun again. We also got to ride the Finding Nemo ride and the Ratatouille ride, both of which we'd missed the first time, so it was worth it to go back just for those. The Nemo ride was cute, but I think of everything we did at Disney, the Ratatouille ride was my overall favorite. It's a 3D ride and not a roller coaster, and is based on the scene from the movie where Remy first enters the restaurant kitchen and has to dart between the wheels of rolling carts, narrowly escape flaming gas jets and clumsy feet, etc. This ride was so realistic I actually felt like a rat running through a kitchen. And bonus: when we got out of the ride, there was a magic window into the back side of the real Disney restaurant! Just such a lovely touch. 

One park closed at 9pm, and in fact when we got off the last ride (Hotel Tower of Hollywood Torture, or whatever it's called) all the staff members were lined up ushering us straight out. Since the closing festivities were advertised as "shortly after park closing," we decided to stay for that, since I'd never done it before and my husband assures me one cannot have the full and complete Disney experience without partaking in them. On the one hand, I'm glad we stayed, because it was fantastic. On the other hand, "shortly after park closing" is Disney code for "two hours later." Ugh. It kept us out much later than we planned, but I think overall it was worth it. We parked out along the edge of a street and staked out a claim on a fence rail, so we could lean and sit, which was a stroke of accidental genius considering how long we waited and leaned and sat. FINALLY, the show started, and it was a sweet mix of French and English. Peter Pan lost his shadow and chased him through all sorts of Disney movie scenes magically projected onto Sleeping Beauty's castle, and the water show was 10x better than Bellagio's in Vegas! A little cheesy, but it put a big grin on my face and I was happy to experience the magic of Disney with my husband. Next up, Epcot! No, seriously, I really want to go when I'm in Florida this December. Who's with me?